Dynamic modeling for heavy-ion collisions

Chun Shen

doi:10.1051/epjconf/202225902001

Abstract

Recent theory progress in (3+1)D dynamical descriptions of relativistic nuclear collisions at finite baryon density are reviewed. Heavy-ion collisions at different collision energies produce strongly coupled nuclear matter to probe the phase structure of Quantum Chromodynamics (QCD). Dynamical frameworks serve as a quantitative tool to study properties of hot QCD matter and map collisions to the QCD phase diagram. Outstanding challenges are highlighted when confronting theoretical models with the current and forthcoming experimental measurements from the RHIC beam energy scan program.

Highlights

Quantifying the phase structure of hot and dense Quantum Chromodynamics (QCD) matter is one of the primary goals in relativistic nuclear physics
It was conjectured that the quark-hadron transition turns from a crossover to a first-order phase transition at some finite baryon chemical potential, suggesting the existence of a critical point [4, 5]
Exploration of the dense quark matter properties at large net baryon density is of particular importance since the gravitational waves detection, emerging from black hole/neutron star mergers, give stringent constraints on the properties of the compact stars, including the nuclear matter equation of state (EoS) [7,8,9,10]

Summary

Introduction

Quantifying the phase structure of hot and dense QCD matter is one of the primary goals in relativistic nuclear physics. Lattice QCD calculations [1, 2] provide conclusive information that hot nuclear matter at zero net baryon density transits from the hadron gas to the Quark-Gluon Plasma (QGP) phase via a smooth crossover at the pseudo-critical temperature Tpc = 156.5 ± 1.5 MeV [3]. Relativistic hydrodynamics, incorporated with nuclear matter EoS, viscosity, and initial state fluctuations, has been a precision tool to understand the macroscopic dynamics of the strongly coupled QGP. Unstable resonance states of strange baryons can provide detailed information about hadronic reactions in the late-stage of heavy-ion collisions [19]. This proceeding will highlight the recent developments of the hybrid dynamical frameworks, emphasizing the strangeness-related observables

Flowing through the QCD crossover region

Outlook and challenges